This invention relates to shelf supports of the type primarily intended for supporting shelves between opposed upright members, for instance, cabinet sidewalls or walls at the ends of bookcases. In particular, the invention relates to a shelf support bracket that includes a retaining means to hold the shelf in place during movement of the cabinet or bookcase.
Brackets for supporting shelves inside cabinets and bookcases and permitting the spacing between adjacent shelves to be readily adjusted have been known for some time. Such a shelf support bracket is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,829,009 issued to Madsen. The shipping of cabinets having internal shelves has historically presented a problem. Thus, with shelf supports that did not also positively retain the shelf in place, the jostling that the cabinets received during shipment could cause the shelf to bounce around within the cabinet with consequent damage, both to the cabinet structure and to the shelf. Shelf brackets having a retaining means to maintain the shelf in position during movement of the cabinet have been proposed as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,112 to MacDonald et al. When any retaining mechanism is used, it is necessary to design such a mechanism for convenient removal of the shelf, as well as installation of the shelf, since the major advantage to movable shelf brackets is the ready adjustability of spacing between adjacent shelves.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a shelf support bracket removably mountable in a wall of a cabinet or bookcase for easy adjustability of the spacing between adjacent shelves that also retains the shelves in position during movement of the cabinet.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a shelf support bracket that allows relatively easy removal of the shelf as well as easy installation of the shelf on the bracket.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a shelf support bracket and retaining means that uses a minimum of material and is relatively economical to construct but that is also relatively pleasing in appearance.